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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Drafting My Own A-Line Skirt Pattern

I love the idea of making my own patterns based on my own measurements not the general measurement on the back of the pattern. (Who has that small of a waist anyway?) I have made elastic waist skirts before for my daughter and her friends, but that only requires a hip measurement with added ease. So it was with great excitement that I decided to do a drafting project with Sew Country Chick.

Using my waist and hip measurements with added ease, this is what the front piece construction looked like.

Notice my totally cool new hip curve ruler. This makes it easy to draw curves exactly without "eyeballing" the curve on the pattern.

This looks huge. But remember the added ease and the pleats.

I bought three fabrics for the project, but decided to use the cheapest one to practice with. I bought two yards and used a 40% off coupon making the total price less than 2.50 per yard. A great deal, or was it?

This is where my problems started. The fabric frayed all over the place especially on the curves. Fitting yourself without a dress form is a pain, and don't expect your teen aged daughter who is late for a social event to help. I took in. I let out, which caused me to set the zipper in wrong. I've set in zillions of zippers so I was pretty mad that this wasn't working!

Oooh! Frayed fabric.

The worst set in zipper ever!

I decided to start all over. I literally cut the zipper out of the skirt, and then I unpicked. Ahhh, the value of making a muslin.

The second time around I didn't bother with fitting the skirt. I reasoned that the pattern was drafted specifically to my measurements so it should be good. I decided to serge the edges first to avoid fraying. Then I put in the zipper before the grosgrain ribbon waist facing just in case I needed to do a last minute fitting. This time the results were lovely.

Now I have a pattern that fits me perfectly without adjustments. Care to see my next fabric choices?

Another plaid or an embellished, creamy wool? So much fun fabric, so little time!

2 comments:

Yay!!! Your skirt turned out great! I'm so happy it worked out. I changed from a blogspot to a dot com last week and my feed got messed up so I'm glad you still followed along. I will be showing how to take the pattern and make new designs from it soon.

About Me

Being a mom, wife, and junior high teacher makes me a little crazy and opinionated. This blog shares my opinions in the form of reviews and shares my love of sewing, quilting, books, and the great outdoors. If I get too sassy, blame the junior high kids (who I love).

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You may use my words (paraphased) and photos as inspiration and in your own electronic and print media as long as you give me credit (and a link back for electronic media) as Foster at fosterreviewsit.blogspot.com. Please do not claim my original work as your own. If using my tutorials, I am not responsible if your product does not turn out.

I Was a Featured Seamstress!

Lisa F. in Salt Lake City, UT 84121

I have been a special education teacher since 1993 and have taught in Utah, Idaho, Alaska, and Texas. I have a Master's degree and have taught all grade levels. I am Highly Qualified in middle level math and language arts. I was awarded 'Secondary Special Education Professional of the Year' in 2011-2012 by Granite School District. Currently, I teach Math 7 and 8, Secondary Math I, English Language Arts, and study skills. I'm excellent with helping all kids understand math concepts and with helping them understand the writing process. I can help a student with reading fluency and comprehension and teach them organizational strategies. I can also teach parents how to help their children with organizational strategies and study skills.